The play that wasn't called

Well, OK, it was ONLY the, as usual, terrible Cleveland Browns. They have long been the NFL's version of Murphy's Law. Between botched draft choices, a woefully incompetent front office hiring pitiful coaches, and even the play on the field -- if something can go wrong -- it WILL go wrong with the Browns.

But they got jobbed in the game earlier today against the Los Angeles Chargers. Here was the scenario....

With about a minute left to play in the game, the Chargers were ahead 19-10. It seemed like a lock -- a two score difference.

To nobody's great surprise, the Cleveland quarterback made yet another Murphy decision and threw a pass directly into the hands of a Charger defensive back for an easy interception. Game over, right?

Not so fast. It shouldn't have been.

Upon further review, the Charger defensive back indeed went to the ground -- but he was never touched by an opponent. In college ball, going down is the end of a play. Not so in pro ball. The play remains "live" until the ball carrier is touched.

See the intercepting defensive back, in celebration mode, get up and run all the way back into his own end zone, surrounded by teammates whooping it up. And THERE he took a knee.

Translation? If the refs had followed the rules, that constituted a safety. Two points for Cleveland.

The score would then have been 19-12, and the Chargers would have had to kick it back to the Browns for one more shot.

And though it seems unlikely -- it's the Browns, remember? -- they still would have theoretically had the chance to quickly march down the field to score a touchdown. An extra point would have tied it and sent the game into overtime. A successful two-point conversion would have -- OMG -- even conceivably given them their first victory of the season.

But nobody noticed, or cared, because it's Cleveland. If their coaching staff on the sidelines had the semblance of even a vague clue, they would have thrown the red flag and demanded a review of the play. But because they remain clueless, they didn't.

In the whole scheme of things, does it really matter much?

Probably not.

But dammit, the rules are the rules.

The least the on-field officials, and those mysterious "guys in the booth" can do is follow them correctly.